Double Rent Holdover Provision Enforceable; Late Fee Unenforceable As a Penalty
Extrinisic Evidence Inadmissible to Vary Terms of Lease Agreement
Court Upholds Holdover and Prejudgment Interest Provisions
Unsigned Lease Agreement Not Binding
Despite the FCPA's breadth and its aggressive enforcement, it has largely escaped judicial scrutiny. Individuals and companies are reluctant to test the bounds of the law and risk federal prison or crippling penalties. But one man has refused to fall in line and has almost single-handedly shaped recent FCPA jurisprudence.
The appellate courts have been busy explaining or clarifying preference and fraudulent transfer law. Although novices may think the Bankruptcy Code (Code) is clear on its face, imaginative counsel have found gaps in the statute and generated rafts of litigation since the Code's enactment in 1979. Recent appellate decisions, summarized below, show that courts are still making new law or refining prior case law.
Despite some new variants and a possible resurgence in the fall, the pandemic closures seem to be finally coming to an end. And with it, so too have most of the COVID-19 defenses in court cases involving commercial leases. However, all may not be foreclosed for a commercial tenant, particularly where a tenant is able to point to a specific provision of its lease that could excuse its obligation to pay rent during the closure of its business.
Federal Circuit Affirms District Court's Decision That an Artificial Intelligence Software System Cannot Be Listed as an Inventor on a Patent Application
Federal Circuit Affirms District Court's Partial Award of Attorney's Fees
In July, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied a motion to dismiss in Morford v. Cattelan, a decision that began by posing the question: "Can a banana taped to a wall be art?"
A majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.
Like poorly-behaved school children, new technologies and intellectual property (IP) are increasingly disrupting the M&A establishment. Cybersecurity has become the latest disruptive newcomer to the M&A party.
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
In an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.
Parties in large non-consumer transactions with no connection whatsoever to New York often choose its law to govern their transactions, and New York statutes permit them to do so. What most people do not know is that the New York Uniform Commercial Code is outdated.
